


American Boyfriend

by Blueskyportrait



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game), Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Annabeth is Victoria, Jason is Rachel, Light Angst, Luke is Nathan, M/M, Nico is Chloe, No Rewind Powers, Percy is Max, life is strange au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-28
Updated: 2018-06-28
Packaged: 2019-05-30 01:34:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15086147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blueskyportrait/pseuds/Blueskyportrait
Summary: Running away can just be a fantasy. But Percy want to make it a reality.





	American Boyfriend

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [A Lustrum Is Too Long](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12442611) by [FandomTrash](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FandomTrash/pseuds/FandomTrash). 



> This is based off of FandomTrash's LiS Percico au "A Lustrum is Too Long." Even if you haven't played or watched a play through of Life is Strange, read it! It's amazing!

I sit on the curb in front of Blackwell Academy waiting for Nico to come pick me up. He texted me to bring my swim trunks and a beach towel and hasn’t messaged me back since this morning. I’m guessing we’re going to the beach about a mile away. It’s unusually warm for mid February. As I fiddled with my phone, refreshing the text messenger app to see if Nico left any new texts, I heard footsteps sound behind me.

“Hey Jackson!” I turn my head and internally groan. It’s Annabeth Chase. She plops herself next to me and leans in a bit too close for comfort. “Waiting for the number one reject of Arcadia Bay?” I shrug my shoulders. “Yeah, sure thing.” I put my phone away and twist the bracelet Nico bought for me around my wrist, a braided leather bracelet with a silver anchor. Annabeth flips his blonde ponytail from her shoulder. “Well, anyway. I’ve heard some rumors about you and di Angelo...” _‘Oh really? I bet they started with you.’_     “And I wanted to ask, are you two a thing?” I look at her with a deadpan expression. “What’s it to ya?”

Annabeth rolls her eyes. “God Percy. Can’t I ask a simple question? I know we got off with a bad start since the beginning of school but I’m trying to be courteous here.” That’s a bit of a understatement. Annabeth has been harassing me ever since I got that perfect score on our class’ first photography project in late September. I have no ill will against her, but she can be petty to the point where it slowly became obvious she’s projecting her insecurities on me. It’s even worse when her boy toy and Arcadia Bay’s most hated and feared spoiled brat Luke Castellan joins in on the bullying.

I used to take her insults to heart but they’ve now become white noise these past few months. “I know you guys hang out and all. Although I don’t know why, but that’s not the point,” Annabeth continues, “The rumors say that you seemed different since after the winter break. Almost love struck. Hmmm?” “And?” Annabeth shakes her head. “Well anyway, the real reason why I’m here is to offer you a warning.” I raise an eyebrow. “A warning?” Annabeth places a hand on my shoulder. “Yes, Percy. Even though you may not think it, but I am concerned for you.”

“You have a funny way of showing it,” I say flatly. Annabeth rolls her eyes again. “I’m being serious here. di Angelo is a fucking menace. He acts tough and talks shit like nothing bothers him and he thinks he’s above giving a fuck about anything. But everyone sees right through him and he doesn’t know it.” Her mouth forms a tight line. “Everything he touches he destroys. I believe it’s one of the reasons why Jason Grace left. He didn’t want di Angelo to take him down with him.”

I felt a burning anger rise up my chest and into my throat. But I kept my mouth shut before I say something I’ll definitely regret. A honking sound came from the parking lot. “Hey Chase!” Called Nico from his truck, “Go find some other poor bastard to leech off of!” Annabeth scoffs. She stands up from the curb and head to the dorms. Nico shows her back his middle finger. I make my way to Nico’s beat up truck with my swim trunks, beach towel and of course, my instant camera in a duffel bag as promised. I dump it into the truck bed and climb inside the vehicle.

Just as I shut the door Nico grabs me by the chin and pulls me into a heated kiss. I gasp and Nico took the opportunity to sneak his tongue into my mouth. He pushes me gently backwards until I was laying on the worn leather seat, his hands in my hair and mine on his hips as we deepened the kiss. He moves down to to lick and suck on the juncture between my jaw and my neck, causing a low moan to escape my lips. He pulls away to look at me properly, dark eyes swirled with its usual mischief. “Ready to go?” He ask breathlessly. All I could do was nod as he climbs off of me and starts the engine. I sit up with my face warm and my heart filled with sparks and waves of pleasure.

Nico reverses and turns towards the exit of the parking lot. He races past Luke Castellan who almost got flattened as he made a sharp turn to the road. “Fuck you Nico!” Luke shouted and Nico just laughed as he drove on. He nudges my arm and makes a gesture to the glove compartment. “Get my speaker out. I want to listen to something good for the trip.” I open the glove compartment and take out the small speaker with the cord. Nico hands me his phone and I plug it in. The first song started with an acoustic guitar and follows with the lyrics.

_To all of you, American girls, it’s sad to imagine a world without you…_

Nico and I mouth the lyrics as we drive through the forest of pine trees. I remember when I introduced Nico this song a few weeks back. I told him I was surprised he liked it, to which he replied, “Just because I’m gay doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy this song.” We listened to it on repeat in his room until we fell asleep in each other’s arms.

_American girls, I’d like to be part of the world around you..._

I watch as the ground on the right side of the road rose in elevation. The exposed white rock of the cliff illuminated a pale yellow from the mid to late afternoon sun filtering through the tops of the trees. This would be a great place for a photo. Maybe I should come around here another time? Yeah, I think I’ll do that.

As we drove on, the main part of the song was coming up, and Nico and I readied ourselves to sing along. “I wish I had...an American...girlfriend.” We look at each other and couldn’t help but burst into laughter. Nico reaches out and grabs my hand. “It’s fine, I don’t need one,” he says out loud. I blush a deep red and Nico grins devilishly.

We make it to the beach, the blue waves rolled on the white sandy shore. Luckily there weren’t any people around since it’s a Thursday so we have the place to ourselves. Nico parks over the sand and we jump out from the truck and I reach for my bag. Nico reaches for his too and he sets on the sand. “You can change on that side of the truck while I change on this side,” He said as he pulls his beanie off his head, his electric blue hair moved gently with the ocean breeze. “Alright,” I say as I begin to undress quickly.

Even though no one is around, I still felt embarrassed having to strip down in the open. I put on my blue swim trunks and place my hoodie, shirt, pants, socks and underwear in the bag. I place my beach towel over my shoulder and my bag over the other and wait for Nico to finish.

He tosses his clothes in the truck bed with his duffle bag and walks around to meet me. He’s wearing black swim trunks with of course, a skull on his left pant leg. He had his beach towel around his neck and he’s carrying a 6 pack with only three cans of beer. He smirks at me playfully. “Look at you all hella sexy,” he said. I snort at his comment. “Thanks.” He walks over to me and places a kiss on my lips, this time more gentle and sweet. “C’mon,” he whispers as we part. I follow him down towards the water where the dry sand meets the damp part. We lay our towels down and I set my bag on top and pull out my camera. The ocean would make a great photo.

I snap the instant camera just when the waves crashed. The photo rolls out from the camera and I shake it a bit to make the image appear a little faster. Nico looks over my shoulder as the image slowly appeared. “Looks nice,” he says. “Hey I wanna ask you something real quick.” “What’s up?” I ask as I put the photo away in a small zipper of my bag. Nico touches the top of his head where his dark roots were showing more prominently. “Should I re-dye my hair the usual color or should I try something different?”

I study his head for a bit. “Maybe you can dye your hair back to its natural color but frost the tips blue, like an ombre.” Nico raises an eyebrow. “An ombre?” “It’s something different.” Nico looks down at the sand in thought, then nods to himself. “I’ll keep that in mind.” I smile. I grab his hand and we race towards the water.

*****

Nico opens up a beer can and hands it to me. He opens one for himself and downs almost half the can in two swift gulps. I sip mine tentatively trying not to spit. “You still a pussy about beer?” Nico teases. I roll my eyes.  
“No matter how hard I try, it still tastes like piss.”  
“It’s good piss.”  
“Shut up. I don’t get how people drink this crap.”  
“It’s a preference I guess.”

Nico slides closer to me on our beach towels. “I can take it off your hands.” “No way. You’re my ride home.” I say with a raised eyebrow. Nico sticks his tongue out. “You’re no fun.” He rests his head on my shoulder and I wrap an arm around his waist. “Are things the same at home?” I ask. I can almost feel the frown Nico makes. “Yeah pretty much. Step-bitch is still trying to convince my dad to send me to a military boarding school. And she won’t let me near Hazel unless she’s out of the house. It’s fucked up.”

He crushes his beer can and some of the alcohol seeps from the torn aluminum. “No matter how much I didn’t want to believe it at first, Hazel is still my baby sister and she can’t keep me away from her forever.” Nico sighs. “You know, since she was born this past winter, I had second thoughts about leaving this shithole. I even considered taking Hazel with us. But Persephone would just accuse me of kidnapping.”

I keep silent, just letting Nico talk. I thought back to all the ideas Nico told me the first few weeks I came back about where he would go when he finally leaves. But those ideas were made with Jason when he was still around. And he left him behind without a warning. And even before that, those talks about running away to LA or Seattle were just fantasy. And Nico wants me to be a part of it. And surprisingly, I want it too. The way Nico said about taking his baby sister with us to our escape from Arcadia Bay comes to show how much he wants that fantasy, even if it means he’ll kidnap his half sibling to make it possible.

The trail of thought led me to the conversation with Annabeth earlier today. About how everything Nico touches he destroys. Was Persephone afraid Nico will corrupt her newborn child? It’s a bit of an unfair assumption to make. I feel sorry for Nico, and most of all, his father Hades. He’s trying to make ends meet but it proves to be difficult. The taboo subject of Nico’s mother and his older sister Bianca’s death still looms over the di Angelo house.

The sun is setting over the beach, casting a warm honey glow on the sand and the water. A chilly breeze brushes over our shoulders causing me to shiver a little. Nico takes notice and moves closer for me to soak up his warmth. “I’ve been thinking,” I begin, “After I graduate, I’ll have to go back to my parents in New York City.” Nico stiffens besides me. “But, maybe if I convince them enough, I can take you with me.”

Nico looks up at me, his dark eyes wide. “You’re shitting me?” I shake my head, a smile plays on my lips. “It doesn’t hurt to ask.” Nico eyes fall to the sand, still trying to process what I said. “We just need to find a way to make you enough money to at least get you plane tickets,” I continue, “Then we can figure out the rest.” Nico shakes his head. “But, your parents haven’t seen me in five years. What if they don’t like what they see?” “Since when did you care about that?” I ask. “Percy, they’re your parents. They were like my second family growing up. I won’t be able to stand it if it turns out they’ll hate me too like everyone else.”

I take his hand and hold it close to my chest. “Then they might as well have to deal with it until we can live somewhere on our own. We can get a apartment, even if it’s a shitty one. I’ll work as a photographer at the New York Times or Time Magazine and you can get a trade job or whatever you want to do. Maybe go to night school to get your GED.” Nico rolls his eyes. “Like that’s ever going to happen.” “Hey, you’ll never know.”

Nico smiles and my heart never ceases to flutter when I see it. I reach for my camera and position it above us. Nico presses his face against mine and I snap to photo. It rolls out of the camera and I give the photo a little shake. “Here, you can have it,” I say. Nico gingerly takes the photo. “Thanks.” We gets up and shake our beach towels to get the sand out. We roll them up and I reach down for my bag and we walk back to the truck. We decide to leave our swim trunks on and just wear our shirts as we entered the vehicle. Nico reaches for his speaker and phone and plugs them in again. The same song from earlier plays and he places them on the dash board. We sit in silence listening to the song fill the empty spaces.

 _I cry sometimes, walking around my own place, wondering why she cry sometimes_  
_Talking about her own place, somewhere around the mountains…_

I shift closer to Nico and nudge his head against mine. He turns and smiles softly. I lean forward and press a kiss to his lips. “Would you rather have an American boyfriend?” I ask teasingly. Nico chuckles. He pushes me down on my back on the truck seat and climbs on top of me like he did earlier and practically devours my lips making me breathless for more. “I already have one.”


End file.
